Compliance

Message from the Commissioner

PAULUS AINCommissioner & Chief Executive Officer

The ICCC promotes competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses, and the community. We also regulate national infrastructure services. Our primary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses comply with PNG competition, fair trading, and consumer protection laws - in particular the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission Act 2002.

Our goals and priorities are outlined in the 2017 - 2019 Corporate Plan document. This is a very succinct plan. It sets out our priorities and strategies for the next three years. It provides a brief framework of how we intend to administer the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission Act 2002 (ICCC Act) and related legislation, the regulatory instruments through which industries are regulated, consumers are protected and competition is safeguarded and enhanced.

Through this plan we aspire to fulfill the Government's vision of wealth creation and to improve the standard of living of Papua New Guineans by creating "a progressive and globally competitive environment" for the conduct of business. this means, freeing up the national economy by liberalizing trade and investment regimes to attract local and foreign direct investments.

The challenge for both the Government and the ICCC is to effectively manage the negative impact of the resultant outcomes of trade liberalization. In line with this view, the ICCC will take necessary steps to protect market competition in the economy by taking appropriate action to address potential anti-competitive commercial arrangements head on. In doing this, it will also take measures to protect consumers' interest where actions of businesses and industries may be potentially harmful to Papua New Guinean consumers, as well as providing an enabling environment for our businesses industries to be internationally efficient and competitive.

We will provide the Government with appropriate policy recommendations to ensure impediments to competition is addressed in key industries so that efficiency gains can result in improved quality, lower prices and improved standards of goods and services.

Our stakeholders must note that the ICCC plays a part though its competition role, relative to other organizations to ensure goods and services are affordable. For example, while inflation is related to the exchange rate, which strongly influenced by the capital flow and interest rate policies of the Bank of PNG; and the fiscal policies of the the Government of the day, it is also influenced by local production to replace imports and export of goods and services; and therefore the ICCC's focus on ensuring the impediments to competition are removed in key industries, is part of the bigger effort by all relevant stockholders. Thus, this will become our primary goal for the next three (3) years.

To achieve these outcomes, this plan will guide the ICCC's investment in our staff, systems, processes and programmes for the next three (3) years. We intend to inform our stakeholders through this Plan of our values and how we endeavor to efficiently and effectively implement our core mandate.

Amongst other investments, the ICCC will accelerate its initiatives to;

better equip and train it's staff,

complete its network configuration to ensure our regional offices are connected to our main server to have access to real-time data, our files and registers

liaise with the Department of Finance to establish an internal audit office,

undertake key market and industry reviews to assist the Government with evidence based policy options;

expand its consumer protection awareness and enforcement to provinces through an active program of periodic monitoring, inspections and engagements; and

reform our legislation to strengthen our enforcement capabilities.

Over the last 13 years, the ICCC has made remarkable progress in discharging its mandate to and often has accepted additional responsibilities requested by Government through the Minister and has carried these out successfully. We intend to maintain this level of commitment into the future.

The success of the 2017 - 2019 Corporate Plan will require the support of key policy and resourcing agencies such as the Department of Personnel Management, Treasury, and Finance, including other line agencies.

We are looking forward to working with all our relevant stakeholders, and are committed to the priorities under this Corporate Plan, over the next three years.